A staff member at a UK radio station offered an unusual explanation after the outlet mistakenly told listeners that King Charles III had died, according to findings from Britain’s media regulator.
Ofcom said the incident unfolded at Radio Caroline on May 19, when an employee aired a pre-recorded royal death announcement simply after stumbling across it and becoming curious, nin.com.au reported.
The regulator found that the worker discovered the audio files while performing maintenance on a studio computer and clicked on them, unaware that the recording would be transmitted live to listeners.
Once the employee realized the false report about the King’s death had gone out on air, they reportedly “panicked and left the premises,” Ofcom said.
The accidental playback prompted Radio Caroline to break into its regular schedule with the incorrect announcement that the monarch had passed away.
“The news media has confirmed that his Majesty King Charles III has passed away. Consequently as a mark of respect, Radio Caroline is suspending its normal programmes,” the message told listeners at the time.
The station followed the erroneous bulletin with a version of “God Save the King,” presented as a tribute to the royal’s supposed death, before falling silent for 16 minutes.
Roughly 30 minutes after the initial broadcast, a presenter returned to clarify that King Charles III was alive and that the earlier announcement had been false, Ofcom said.
“I’ve just been informed that we’ve played in error some information a little earlier,” the presenter said.
“I didn’t hear this myself, but it is incorrect, it’s a technical issue, and of course we apologise.”
King Charles was seen – very much alive – interacting with crowds while on a trip in Northern Ireland not too long after the announcement was made.
Ofcom said that the “significant inaccuracy” was of “particular public importance” and criticized the station for the time it took to correct the error.
Radio Caroline said that they took “the matter very seriously,” reprimanding the worker who’d made the mistake, and that they had acted “as soon as possible” once they realized the false announcement was made.
The pre-recorded files announcing the King’s death were removed from the computer after the accidental broadcast, the radio station said.
